Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	meritorious_a	sin_n	suffering_n	1,464	5	9.5631	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A69028	The rule of faith, or, An exposition of the Apostles Creed so handled as it affordeth both milke for babes, and strong meat for such as are at full age / by ... Nicholas Bifield ; ... now published ... by his sonne, Adoniram Bifield.	Byfield, Nicholas, 1579-1622.; Byfield, Adoniram, d. 1660.	1626 (1626)	STC 4233.3; ESTC S113882	419,023	572

Scripture acknowledgeth no other propitiation than the passion of Christ nor can there be need of any other seeing it is the passion of him that is God Secondly hence we may be confirmed against the scandal of the Crosse of Christ though Iewes and Gentiles declaime against Christ for that very cause because he was so vile and contemptible in the eyes of the world yet we see there was great reason for it he should be so abased for else our sinnes had not beene satisfied for nor heauen purchased Thirdly hence we may see the difference betweene Christs sufferings and the sufferings of the Martyrs For first the sufferings of the Martyrs were not punishments for sinnes but only trials or chastisements whereas Christs sufferings were maledictions and punishments laid vpon him for our sins Againe the sufferings of the Martyrs were not meritorious they deserued nothing for others because they are considered but as priuate men but Christs sufferings were meritorious because he vndertooke them as our suretie and was sustained vnder them by the immediate assistance of the Diuine Nature in respect of which they were the sufferings of God Fourthly hence we may take occasion to be grieued at heart for our sinnes for our sinnes were the cause of the sufferings of Christ and brought vpon him all the miseries he endured when we see Christ crucified we see him who was so pierced for our sinnes Fifthly seeing we are bought with such a price as the sufferings and bloud-shedding of Iesus Christ we should therefore not be the seruants of men seeing Christ paid so deare for vs we should be ashamed to applie our selues to the humours and lusts and vanities of the men of this world as if we were still their seruants He knowes not Christ or the price of his redemption that for base and corrupt respects will leaue the sinceritie of Christs seruice to humour or please men 1 Cor. 7. 23. Sixthly seeing Christ laid downe this price to redeeme and saue his people from their sinnes wee should goe away resolued to sinne no more and to walke worthy of so great redemption Shall wee againe crucifie the Sonne of God by returning with the dogge to our vomit or the swine to the wallowing in the mire Seuenthly how should we admire the loue of Christ to vs that hath washed vs from our sinnes by his owne bloud Oh glorious medicine Oh how vnspeakable was that loue What tongue can vtter it What heart can conceiue of it Reuel 1. 5. But the especiall vse is for consolation for these ends of Christs sufferings doe manifestly import the fruits and benefit of his suffering to vs which is so great as we should euer exult and glory in the Crosse of Christ aboue althings and desire no better a way of liuing than to liue by the faith of the Sonne of God that gaue himselfe for vs Galat. 2. 20. and 6. 14. For since Christ did suffer for those reasons before specified it will manifestly from thence follow 1. That the hand-writing that was against vs is cancelled our bond which we forfeited cannot now be sued against vs Col. 2. 15. 2. That God is pacified and well pleased with vs Mat. 17. 5. 1 Ioh. 2. 12. 3. That death and damnation is now swallowed vp into victory that we need not liue in such feare of them Ro. 8. 1. 1 Cor. 15. Heb. 2. 14 15. 4. That the deuill being but Gods Sergeant or Iaylor hath now no power ouer vs Heb. 2. 14. 5. That we are absolued and discharged from the guilt of all our sinnes and may by faith lay hold vpon all the promises of grace and pardon in the Scripture 6. That sinne shall haue no more dominion ouer vs for the bloud of Iesus Christ cleanseth vs from all our sinnes as well in respect of vertue as in respect of merit and against the power of it as well as against the guilt of it Rom. 6. 7. That we shall be sure of heauen when we die And in generall the passion and bloud-shedding of Christ doth ratifie and assure to vs all the good things of the new Couenant or Testament Heb. 9. 16. c. and for matters may be needfull for vs in this life how can we doubt for if God haue giuen vs his Sonne how shall he not with him giue vs all things Romanes 8. 32. Thus of the fourth point The fifth point is what he suffered for vs and this will be large in the explication of it For though his sufferings vnder Pontius Pilate be mentioned and his suffering of what fell out at the end of his life be called the Passion by an excellencie yet in as much as Christ suffered nothing casually or for himselfe but for vs therefore we must reckon all the parts of his sufferings as parts of his Passion for vs and so remouing the Synecdoche which is in the words of the Creed and considering at large of Christs sufferings euen those parts which are not men●ioned in the Creed as well as those that are the whole Systeme or Method of the doctrine of Christs Passion may be disposed as followeth The Passion of Christ is both Priuatiue and Positiue His Priuatiue Passion did consist in this that he wanted that glory ioy and felicitie which he might and ought to haue had if he had not voluntarily for the redemption of man depriued himselfe of such glory and felicitie and this kinde of Passion did extend it selfe to both Natures For first his Diuine Nature suffered as it were an eclipse of glory all the time of our Sauiours dwelling on earth it was hidden as it were behinde the veile for if his Diuinitie had shone out in the brightnesse of the glory of it when he came to dwell amongst vs Iohn ●● 14. it would haue beene as wonderfull on earth amongst men as it was and is in heauen amongst Angels And besides though the glory of Christs Diuinitie be so infinite as nothing can be added to it or taken from it in it selfe yet is it said to be glorified or obscured according to the conceptions of it in the minds of men and so he suffered a priuation of glory or rather a defect of it in that light came into the world and the darknesse of mens hearts was such as they did not comp●ehend it Yea it was a great Passion that the Diuinitie of Christ should be so slowly and by so few acknowledged al the dayes of Christs being in the flesh on earth And as for his humane Nature there was due to it all abundance of glory and happinesse and ioyfull life in as much as he was a iust man and did perfectly fulfill the whole Law of God for he that doth that should liue the meaning is he should liue a most pleasant and happy life for euer But this glory also for our sakes he was contented to want for a time to his very humane Nature Of this kinde of Passion is spoken Ioh. 17. 5. Phil.

the food of our soules in the Word and Sacraments therefore we should spend our life as if it were a continuall Passeouer and so we must put away leauen euen the old leauen of such corruptions as we liued in and in particular the leauen of malice and keepe this feast in the vnleauened bread of sound sinceritie of life and truth in all holinesse without hypocrisie Thus of the third point The fourth point is why it was needfull that Iesus Christ the Sonne of God should suffer and for answer thereunto we must know that he did not suffer casually but by diuine prouidence so as nothing befell him in the least thing which was not seene to be necessarie for our redemption that God that doth all things by measure in afflicting his seruants doth much more exactly looke to the powring out and filling of the cup he did giue his owne Sonne so as not a drop could light into it without especiall reason and sound consideration Now there be many impulsiue causes or reasons giuen in Scripture why Christ must suffer as 1. That so the Scriptures might be fulfilled that foretold his sufferings Luke 24. 26 27. and therefore it is vsuall in the history of the Gospell when the particular sufferings of Christ are mentioned to say it was that such and such a Scripture might be fulfilled Let wicked men marke this point God is so iust of his wotd that he will not spare his owne Sonne but executeth euery Iudgement and misery which in his word hee foretold hee should suffer nor he did not release him from the least circumstance of any part of his Passion as the diuiding of his garments and casting Lots for his vesture c. and therefore how can it be possible that they that are so hatefull to God should escape any of those woes and curses denounced in Scripture Let Swearers Drunkards Adulterers Lyars Hypocrites and the like be afraid of this 2. That so he might leaue vs an ensample that we might walke in his steps The perfect practise of Patience was cleane worne out of the world so as a man could not see by any bodies practise how he should carry himselfe in affliction If we looke vpon Iob himselfe that was one of the best patternes amongst men yet we reade of strange impatience in Iob he was not dumbe but opened his mouth to speake strange and vnsauourie things Now that this hard lesson might be learned our Sauiour himselfe vndertakes to act it before our eyes that we might see it done to the life and so be made more willing and more able to learne to suffer They are deceiued that thinke that if godly persons suffer it is for their faults for if Christ himselfe come into the world he shall suffer from the world and true Christians are too faint-hearted that seeing the Prince and Captaine of their saluation consecrate through afflictions cannot yet be excited with magnanimitie and solide patience to endure the hardship of godlinesse 1 Pet. 2. 21. 3. That so he might deliuer vs from the bondage of the Ceremoniall Law Iohn 1. 17. Act. 11. and 15. Gal. 3. 13 14. 4. That so he might become a mercifull High-Priest and might know how to haue compassion on our infirmities and might attaine to a very feeling of our distresses and so be more fit to succour vs Heb. 2. 17 18. and 4. 15. which should afford vnto vs strong consolation in all grieuances of life it is a glory we giue to Christ when we by faith in our particular tryals doe rest vpon this goodnesse and fellow-feeling in our blessed Sauiour These causes are lesse principall but the principall reasons follow and so 5. He was to suffer that so he might reconcile vs to God or bring vs againe to God as the Apostles phrase is 1 Pet. 3. 18. which he did effect when in his sufferings he was made an expiation atonement and propitiation for our sins as our surety he was to make payment and satisfaction to God by suffering that malediction which we should haue borne God condemning our sins in his flesh Esay 53. 5. Rō 4. 25. and 3. 25. and 8 3. 1 Ioh. 2. 1 2. This end of his suffering appeares in this that scarce any mysterie was more frequently shadowed out in the Old Testamen for euery day the sacrifices did as it were force it into the mindes of men and this was it the Prophets so longed to see 1 Pet. 1. 11. 6. He was to suffer that so he might heale our diseases and kill and mortifie the vile humours and spirituall leprosies had infected our soules and liues which his Passion doth partly by way of argument as the meditation of his suffering doth giue vnto the godly cause to hate sin and with sorrow to put it away and partly and chiefly by a speciall vertue as a diuine plaister is deriued vnto our soules secretly by the ordinances of Christ as by the word of the Crosse which is the preaching of the Gospell and by both the Sacraments Baptisme the Lords Supper Rō 6. Mat. 26. ● Cor. 1. 1 Pet. 2. 24. Ioh. 17. 17 19 which vertue is deriued vnto vs by these means by the Holy Ghost which he obtained of the Father for this end Gal. 3 13 14. 7. He was to suffer that he might purchase thereby eternall life for vs who were not only cast out of Paradice but shut out of Heauen and could neuer enter within the veile had we not beene sprinkled with his bloud Iohn 3. 14. Heb. 10. 19. Iohn 6. 51. and 12. 32 33. Heb. 2. 10. Ob. But how can the sufferings of one man be a sufficient satisfaction for the sins of so many men Sol. Though the man Christ suffered yet being also God the dignity of his person was such as it was of more price and value for him to suffer than if all the men and Angels in the world had suffered the same things and so we answer that obiection also that his sufferings were but for a time and his death but temporary and therefore how could that be equiualent to damnation eternall which all men deserued and were guilty I say it is answered by this that it is more for Christ to suffer a temporarie death than for all men to suffer eternall damnation Ob. 2. How can it stand with Gods iustice to punish the most righteous man that euer was and that for sinners sake seeing Tyrants will not doe so Answ Christ is not to be considered as a priuate person but as a publike surety for the Elect and so it is iust to require their debts at his hand that becomes surety for them The consideration of these principall ends of Christs sufferings may serue for great vse For first we may hence see cleerely how wicked the doctrine of the Church of Rome is that tels vs of satisfactions for mens sinnes to be made by the works partly of themselues and partly of Saints departed when the

day Which should much incourage the godly against all the hardship of godlinesse in this life There are many things may be briefly noted from the particular words by which this glorious calling is exprest 1. In that the Iudge is suddenly by change of stile called a King it might haue some vse for the present respect of the Disciples that dreamed of an earthly kingdom in this world and besides a generall respect vnto the godly of all ages to informe them that though Christ entertaine his seruants in this world but in meane conditions many times and that thereby his glory seems much abased amongst men yet at that day he will speake and doe for them like a King yea a King alone when all other Kings shall lay their Crownes at his feet 2. In that he saith Come yee it notes how glad Christ will be of them at that day as of such as haue beene long from him No father can be so glad to see his children that haue beene long absent as Christ will be to see his members while he yet sits vpon the Throne of Iudgement he cannot chuse but shew his affection 3. In that he saith Yee blessed of my Father he shewes them the fountaine of all their preferment to be Gods free loue and grace to them and not their deserts And withall teacheth vs to be confident in it that no people are so blessed and happy as such as be true Christians They are the blessed of God euen such as God blesseth as a father If Israels blessing could make Iacob happy much more Gods blessings vpon those he acknowledgeth for his children It matters not though the world hate vs and curse vs if God will loue vs and blesse vs it is enough 4. In that he saith Inherit the kingdome it imports that we shall neuer haue full possession of perfect glory till the day of Iudgement We are heires now but we are as it were vnder age And besides merit of works is here againe confuted for if we hold heauen by inheritance then not by merit a mans child claimes not his land by desert but by descent And further in that he cals their glory a kingdome it giues vs a glimpse of the surpassing aduancement of euery true Christian at that day This world hath no higher estates to shadow it out by but a kingdome which is the highest greatnesse on earth and therefore we should be greatly comforted against the miseries we suffer in the daies of our banishment and pilgrimage here below 5. In that he saith Prepared we may gather from that word the great care of our heauenly Father that prouides estates for all his children long before they be ready to possesse it which should be some instruction to earthly Parents to shew care for their children in prouiding if it may be for them before hand 6. In that he saith for you it manifestly shewes that God did particularly chuse certaine men and not all men as heires of his kingdome 7. In that he saith from the foundation of the world we may againe note that Heauen is not had by our merits because it was prepared before we had done either good or euill Obserue also that our Sauiour making mention of the beginning of the world expresseth it by mentioning the foundation of the world great was the surpassing glory of Gods power and wisdome in making the world and likewise beyond all apprehension great was his power in hanging this mightie frame of all things without any thing to hold it vp saue his owne secret power and decree and will it should be so Or may not the foundation of the world be referred to the minde of God in eternitie Though this world were framed and reared in the beginning of time yet may we not say that it was founded in the minde of God from all eternitie The consideration of all these things in the calling to glory should greatly abase vs for our want of affection and admiration and strong consolation in the hope of all this glory and if it be possible it should plucke vp our hearts to a feruent loue and longing for and hasting to the appearing of Christ Iesus our hearts I say vpon whom the ends of the world are come when the day of the Lord is so neare at hand And withall it should worke in vs a perfect patience in bearing the afflictions of this life these light afflictions I say light in comparison of that eternall weight of glory Thus of their calling to glory The Reason followes vers 35. 36. And it is taken from their workes of mercy as they are signes of their faith in Christ and as markes of their Adoption not as causes of their glory and yet if it were granted they were causes of glory yet it will not follow they are meritorious causes There are many sorts of efficient causes besides causes meritorious if any aske why their workes of piety are not mentioned or workes of righteousnesse as well as mercy I answer that mercy is not absolutely better than piety but only in a sort viz. in respect of men and as mercy doth iustifie our pietie to be right Now out of all the words I obserue 1. That good workes are necessary to saluation as causes without which no saluation will be had 2. That workes of mercie are very acceptable to God Acts 10. 4. Phil. 4. 18. 3. That the best charitie is to releeue godly Christians Gal. 6. 10. From the answer of the godly we may gather something of defect and something of praise The defect seemes to be that they doe not sufficiently informe themselues of the dearenesse of relation betweene them and Christ and the great account that Christ makes of their workes As we must not be iust ouer-much to think better of our selues than there is cause so we must not be wicked ouer-much in denying Gods grace or attributing more sinne to our selues than is true Their great praise imported in these words is that they forget the good they haue done being more prone to see and acknowledge their vnworthinesse whereas wicked men can remember the good they haue done but forget their sinnes From the Reply of Christ we may obserue the neere coniunction betweene Christ and Christians Hee reckons of them as of himselfe and is affected with all that befalls them as if it did befall himselfe He is not ashamed to call them brethren yea he reckons poore Christians as a part of himselfe though they be despised in the world yet he loues them as he loues himselfe they are pretious in his eyes calling them brethren hee vouchsafeth them incredible honour which should greatly stirre vs vp to charity and if at any time we are dull set Christ before our eyes and thinke what a Sacrilege it is to deny releefe to Christ Thus of the sentence of absolution which being ended he will proceed to the sentence of condemnation Hee is not so mercifull as to forget to be